HOW TO: Waste pipe plastic dust grommet not secured, pipe moves around

[John E Davies]

This really embarrasses me because it took 18 months to finally figure out what was going on. The waste pipe has always flopped around and it never occurred to me to get on my knees with a strong flashlight for a close look.

 

I discovered that at the very front (dark) end of the hose compartment is a 5” hole where the 3” pipe exits the trailer. There is supposed to be a big flanged plastic grommet inserted into the hole to seal it.

 

Mine was two inches back on the pipe. It had never been pushed into place. I drove it into position with a wood stick and a big mallet. The last little bit at the 6:00 position was tough, but I wedged a 2x4 under the pipe and finally got the last 30 degrees of grommet to snap firmly into place. Now the pipe does not move, nor will huge amounts of road dust enter there.

 

If your pipe moves at all, check the grommet. It should look like this, fully seated all around. You can feel with a finger if there is a gap anywhere:

 

 

Fixing it should RADICALLY slow down the nuisance dust buildup in my interior compartment:

 

 

I will vacuum the dust out once more to see if it is stopped for good. This is what typically comes out of that rear compartment after dusty roads:

 

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[KarenLukens]

Now that's funny John ?

 

I fixed ours at Fall Hollow after pick up. I'm glad that I'm not alone on this one ?

[mountainoliver]

Just last week I noticed mine was out of place and snapped it back in.

[Townesw]

Thanks for posting this John. Just checked mine. It was in place but had backed out a little. It is a lot easier to push it back into place before it completely slips out of the hole. I will keep my special “Grommet Reinsertion Tool” (see picture below) in the basement and will use it to periodically check the grommet while on the road.

 

 

Bill

[Townesw]

I think I will put a large hose clamp on that drain pipe up against that grommet, close but not tight up against it, to prevent the grommet from completely backing out.

 

Bill

[Townesw]

Stainless steel Banjo TC-331 just snug. Not tight.

 

 

Bill

[KarenLukens]

Just a thought, I would turn the bolt so it's at the top just to make sure it can't rub a hole in the hoses down below ?

[Mainiac]

Would a thin coat of silicone adhesive be enough to hold it in?  Or would that cause more problems than it's worth?

[John E Davies]

I think if it is driven “home” really hard, it won’t come out on its own. There is an inner lip on the grommet that should be snapped over the edge of the hole. It was quite hard to get the last 30 degrees of mine to fully seat. It was obvious by feeling with a finger when it finally went fully forward.

 

I am pretty sure mine was never installed. It was like this from the start and there it is doubtful that it could have moved two inches on its own. I will keep an eye on it, but I do not think it will shift. If it does I will drive it forward and put a pair of small stainless worm screw clamps on it, connected to make a big one. That will put two points of contact to hold it in, not one as shown in Bill’s pic.

 

Plus I do not happen to have a great big one lying around..... when I sold my house two years, I cleared out most of my cached spare parts. I have regretted that whenever I have to go down to the hardware store instead of just reaching into a bin of parts....

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

 

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